The Potholder Cafe
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We had a friend visit from out of town who was in Long Beach. Decided to meet them at the Potholder Cafe. The service was great. We were seated as soon as we walked up. Our host got our drinks very quickly. The inside is typical cafe decor, clean, plenty of booth and table seating. Our waitress Tiffany!!! Off the chain!! Chad me laughing the whole time. She gave us time to review the menu, came back and answered some challenging questions with ease and took our order. Our food came back out within 10-15 min. Nice and hot. Two of us got the Couch and one got the Club sandwich with curly fries. It was a lot of food to say the least. So come hungry!!
Always great food and service here! Staff is kind and always a pleasure to talk to! If you get Tiffany expect to be laughing! She loves to crack jokes
One of four Potholder Breakfast Cafes around the greater Long Beach area, Potholder Cafe in DTLB serves up a varied menu for breakfast and lunch, closing by 1 pm. It's within easy walking distance from my place, so decided to make it a spot for a big breakfast as soon as they opened at 8am. Intentionally ordered too much to try two of my favorite things at a California diner: chili and a loco moco. Ended up bringing the former back home, and finishing the latter. Service was good, food was OK. I was the first customer to enter, and was greeted nicely by the early shift server and allowed to choose a booth. Was immediately given a laminated menu, and ice water was brought immediately after I asked. By that time, I had my choice and the food came in a reasonable amount of time. Homemade Chili Bowl w/Cheese & Onion ($8.95). - a normal size bowl. Not chile con carne, but had a healthy amount of beans. Strangely the base tasted strongly like Mexican refried (pinto) beans, not chili or tomato as I expected...this is not a chili my wife would dip her fries in. There was a good amount of cheese and onion, along with some pieces of beef (steak). Maritime Loco Moco ($16.95) - not sure why this is called 'maritime', it was simple but decent. It's a diner, so used easily source able ingredients, like minute rice, brown gravy from a jar, and a quarter pound hamburger patty. The two runny eggs were prepared perfectly and really did elevate the dish for me. The menu description was accurate. As mentioned, service was good throughout. There is a small parking lot to the side that gets filled quickly. There is a small outdoor patio in front for al fresco. Due to the proximity to the Long Beach cruise port, Potholders is a popular breakfast stop for cruisers, expecting classic American breakfast fare. And as usual, value depends on what you choose. In my case, prices were high for what I ordered and got. A better deal would have been more breakfast centric items like their custom omelets or hash.
The food was great. I love a good Cornbeef hash. They seemed short staffed at the time I was there but service was still on par for the course. It was breakfast time so the ambiance was the sun shining through to get us going. Indoor or outdoor seating available. Nothing to complain about. I'm going back for more.
Ambiance is nice, typical cafe/diner. Inside and out were clean. Server was attentive. We shared a breakfast option. Plenty of food for two adults.
Returning to this location within walking distance (13 minutes) of our Hyatt Centric hotel. First time we were here, it was a quiet weekday. Today, January 1, 2026, it is BUSY! Not too many solid breakfast spots open today, so we were happy Potholder welcomed recovering NYE revelers. Management positioned a hostess stand out front, but no sign-in sheet. We arrived behind another couple and it wasn't long before another couple arrived behind us. After a couple of minutes, I "boldly" opened the door to make sure we weren't missing something. A server looked up almost immediately, plates of food in her arms, smiled and let me know someone would be out shortly. We were sat about 5 minutes later. While there was plenty of hustle amongst the staff, the vibe was still pretty chill for a business that would be closing 90 minutes later. In fact, they were still seating people 15 minutes prior to close. We happened to be there until 1:15, lingering a bit, and noticing none of the tables were meant to feel rushed. They kept the weekday special - today was Three for Thursday - despite the holiday in a fairly touristy city. That was appreciated. The Thursday specials offer A) 3 eggs paired with 3 bacon or sausage, toast and potatoes OR B) 3 eggs, French toast and 3 bacon or sausages OR C) 3 eggs, 3 pancakes and 3 bacon or sausages. Each option was $12.95. Pretty darn good deal! Hubs ordered option "A" w/french fries, I went with option "C" cuz the word here is the delicious pancakes. Now, y'all, you KNOW I love pancakes, and I know Potholder offers a "Mac Daddy Frankie", an 18" single pancake, but I scoff, that is NOT a lot of pancake! My stack of 3, 8" pancakes were cake-y, fluffy, but dense, in a great way, were STEAMING HOT and had, as another Yelper noted, a hint of cinnamon in that house scratch recipe. There HAD to be more batter in my stack of 3, compared to a single 18" pancake. Don't worry, I polished that stack, but goood! I ordered my eggs "over hard", so I could easily remove the yolks and just have the whites, but 2 eggs must've broke because only 1 egg was visibly intact and the yolk was mixed in with the whites of my other eggs. Bummer. Bacon was done perfectly crisp, not even close to burnt, so good job on that. Hubs eggs were over medium and a little runny, but he declared them a solid 'fine'. He was also happy with his bacon and fries, but the white toast was delayed, so his food cooled a bit whilst waiting for that. We had to catch our server's eye for a coffee refill, but Tyana was friendly and working hard. I wasn't offered a refill of water, which would've been nice. In all, we enjoyed a solid meal at a very fair price and the location was an easy walk from our hotel. We will keep it in our Long Beach list as an easy breakfast spot. Cheers! "CC"
This may look odd but its soo good! They are not kidding about the works. Ive been sick for sometime and this was definitely comforting. The oatmeal was covered in all sorts of goodies such as caramelized pecans, granola, banana and a little too much butter.. but that was ok. They also provide a side of milk and raisins too. We ordered for pick up but we definitely enjoy dining in. Service is always on point. The potholder never disappoints.
You want a classic, home-y, comfy diner feel for breakfast? This is your next stop. I would hear about this lil cafe and would always be piqued to try it. I finally had an early Sunday morning to beat the rest of the Sunday crowds. I was in a party of 3 and was sat indoors. Which was perfected because it was pretty gloomy and humid and I'd rather eat my breakfast out the dumpster than be in humidity. Needless to say they have both indoor and outdoor seating. I ended up ordering the Frankie's special which was the perfect balance of protein, carbs and fats. Their sausage was REAL sausage meaning it wasn't the small little sausage links that remind you of your ex. I'm unsure if it was pork chicken or turkey but it was pretty savory and flavorful and gave a nice balance for the eggs and French toast. The egg wash/dip for the French toast was the best bath for the bread. I didn't even need to use syrup, the powdered sugar was plenty sweetness for me. I ended up sharing the Mia's stuffed French toast with strawberry cream cheese with my additionals. I really enjoyed the corn flake crispy crust on it was nice to have the texture of a crunch with the softness of the bread. Service was average or subpar to average. Our waitress wasn't the friendliest and had the whole "I don't want to be here it's 9am Sunday" attitude was there it was off putting but it didn't ruin our breakfast. Overall I'd come back when I want to have the home feeling diner. Parking is street parking otherwise there's a parking structure conveniently across the cafe.
Came here for breakfast the other day, and must say the few times I've been here, it's always been good. Nice portions. Good service. This past visit not so much. Food was great, been better before. But I ordered an iced tea, and the server returned to let me know they forgot to brew it. So I got a club soda instead. But never got a refill. Sat at the counter. It was slow. But the servers were too busy chatting or doing roll ups.
Pay attention to the little things and the big things won't go wrong. This was the lesson I was taught over and over while learning the restaurant business. So, they have a podium which says, please wait to be seated. And then no one is there to seat you. So, just to see how long it would take I started a stop watch. 4:35 later, one of the servers tells me someone will be with me shortly. What are your standards for greeting your customers? Is 4 minutes and 35 seconds appropriate when there is literally not a single customer in sight? Then, I wanted to sit at the counter. Which is fine, except literally half the counter was turned into a silverware rolling station. And... I want given silverware until I asked for it after the food arrived. Little things. Now, I ordered the Waffle Wednesday special. 2 eggs, choice of 2 meat, a waffle and 2 eggs any style. I thought I asked for hash browns to go with it. It was missed. Little things. The eggs and sausage were brought out right away, since the potatoes were missed, I waited for those as well as the waffle. The orange juice came with no straw. Little things. The staff is friendly. They were simply unfocused. Teach me to show up 15 minutes before closing. The total bill with tip ended up being just over $30! Yikes! The food was very good, but, $30 for breakfast?!?
Tina (just remember like Tina Turner) is an amazing waitress. She was so attentive, kind, and funny. Really pleasant personality. I wish every serve was like her. The food here is classic diner style and the menu selection is massive. 10/10 recommend
I wanted to like this place , since seeing a cute review on Social Media, but I was disappointed. We went on a Wednesday morning around 11 am. Not busy at all maybe 5 tables inside and outside dining. Male & Female servers. Took awhile to get our order placed, once we ordered the food came quickly, nice and hot and that was it. She never came to refill our coffee or check up on us. Finally we asked for a glass of water and she brought it to us after about 5 mins. The food was average breakfast diner food. I got a chicken fried steak the gravy seemed watered down and needed salt 5/10. Hubby ordered Grand Prix he gave a 6/10. I probably wouldn't return. Parking can be challenging on the street metered parking. Restaurant was clean and well decorated.
1 month ago
4 months ago
The omelettes here are delicious and they have a huge variety of different breakfast foods. I will say some of their combos had an insane amount of food like you could seriously feed two people with just one meal. We came on a Sunday morning and it was definitely crowded. Service is a little slow, but it doesn't seem so bad if you're with a group of people. This place definitely has local vibes written all over it. You could tell many customers come here often. Definitely come hungry! read more
5 months ago
We had a friend visit from out of town who was in Long Beach. Decided to meet them at the Potholder Cafe. The service was great. We were seated as soon as we walked up. Our host got our drinks very quickly. The inside is typical cafe decor, clean, plenty of booth and table seating. Our waitress Tiffany!!! Off the chain!! Chad me laughing the whole time. She gave us time to review the menu, came back and answered some challenging questions with ease and took our order. Our food came back out within 10-15 min. Nice and hot. Two of us got the Couch and one got the Club sandwich with curly fries. It was a lot of food to say the least. So come hungry!! read more
7 days ago
2 months ago
Always great food and service here! Staff is kind and always a pleasure to talk to! If you get Tiffany expect to be laughing! She loves to crack jokes read more
One of four Potholder Breakfast Cafes around the greater Long Beach area, Potholder Cafe in DTLB serves up a varied menu for breakfast and lunch, closing by 1 pm. It's within easy walking distance from my place, so decided to make it a spot for a big breakfast as soon as they opened at 8am. Intentionally ordered too much to try two of my favorite things at a California diner: chili and a loco moco. Ended up bringing the former back home, and finishing the latter. Service was good, food was OK. I was the first customer to enter, and was greeted nicely by the early shift server and allowed to choose a booth. Was immediately given a laminated menu, and ice water was brought immediately after I asked. By that time, I had my choice and the food came in a reasonable amount of time. Homemade Chili Bowl w/Cheese & Onion ($8.95). - a normal size bowl. Not chile con carne, but had a healthy amount of beans. Strangely the base tasted strongly like Mexican refried (pinto) beans, not chili or tomato as I expected...this is not a chili my wife would dip her fries in. There was a good amount of cheese and onion, along with some pieces of beef (steak). Maritime Loco Moco ($16.95) - not sure why this is called 'maritime', it was simple but decent. It's a diner, so used easily source able ingredients, like minute rice, brown gravy from a jar, and a quarter pound hamburger patty. The two runny eggs were prepared perfectly and really did elevate the dish for me. The menu description was accurate. As mentioned, service was good throughout. There is a small parking lot to the side that gets filled quickly. There is a small outdoor patio in front for al fresco. Due to the proximity to the Long Beach cruise port, Potholders is a popular breakfast stop for cruisers, expecting classic American breakfast fare. And as usual, value depends on what you choose. In my case, prices were high for what I ordered and got. A better deal would have been more breakfast centric items like their custom omelets or hash. read more
6 months ago
The food was great. I love a good Cornbeef hash. They seemed short staffed at the time I was there but service was still on par for the course. It was breakfast time so the ambiance was the sun shining through to get us going. Indoor or outdoor seating available. Nothing to complain about. I'm going back for more. read more
9 months ago
Returning to this location within walking distance (13 minutes) of our Hyatt Centric hotel. First time we were here, it was a quiet weekday. Today, January 1, 2026, it is BUSY! Not too many solid breakfast spots open today, so we were happy Potholder welcomed recovering NYE revelers. Management positioned a hostess stand out front, but no sign-in sheet. We arrived behind another couple and it wasn't long before another couple arrived behind us. After a couple of minutes, I "boldly" opened the door to make sure we weren't missing something. A server looked up almost immediately, plates of food in her arms, smiled and let me know someone would be out shortly. We were sat about 5 minutes later. While there was plenty of hustle amongst the staff, the vibe was still pretty chill for a business that would be closing 90 minutes later. In fact, they were still seating people 15 minutes prior to close. We happened to be there until 1:15, lingering a bit, and noticing none of the tables were meant to feel rushed. They kept the weekday special - today was Three for Thursday - despite the holiday in a fairly touristy city. That was appreciated. The Thursday specials offer A) 3 eggs paired with 3 bacon or sausage, toast and potatoes OR B) 3 eggs, French toast and 3 bacon or sausages OR C) 3 eggs, 3 pancakes and 3 bacon or sausages. Each option was $12.95. Pretty darn good deal! Hubs ordered option "A" w/french fries, I went with option "C" cuz the word here is the delicious pancakes. Now, y'all, you KNOW I love pancakes, and I know Potholder offers a "Mac Daddy Frankie", an 18" single pancake, but I scoff, that is NOT a lot of pancake! My stack of 3, 8" pancakes were cake-y, fluffy, but dense, in a great way, were STEAMING HOT and had, as another Yelper noted, a hint of cinnamon in that house scratch recipe. There HAD to be more batter in my stack of 3, compared to a single 18" pancake. Don't worry, I polished that stack, but goood! I ordered my eggs "over hard", so I could easily remove the yolks and just have the whites, but 2 eggs must've broke because only 1 egg was visibly intact and the yolk was mixed in with the whites of my other eggs. Bummer. Bacon was done perfectly crisp, not even close to burnt, so good job on that. Hubs eggs were over medium and a little runny, but he declared them a solid 'fine'. He was also happy with his bacon and fries, but the white toast was delayed, so his food cooled a bit whilst waiting for that. We had to catch our server's eye for a coffee refill, but Tyana was friendly and working hard. I wasn't offered a refill of water, which would've been nice. In all, we enjoyed a solid meal at a very fair price and the location was an easy walk from our hotel. We will keep it in our Long Beach list as an easy breakfast spot. Cheers! "CC" read more
10 months ago
This may look odd but its soo good! They are not kidding about the works. Ive been sick for sometime and this was definitely comforting. The oatmeal was covered in all sorts of goodies such as caramelized pecans, granola, banana and a little too much butter.. but that was ok. They also provide a side of milk and raisins too. We ordered for pick up but we definitely enjoy dining in. Service is always on point. The potholder never disappoints. read more
2 months ago
You want a classic, home-y, comfy diner feel for breakfast? This is your next stop. I would hear about this lil cafe and would always be piqued to try it. I finally had an early Sunday morning to beat the rest of the Sunday crowds. I was in a party of 3 and was sat indoors. Which was perfected because it was pretty gloomy and humid and I'd rather eat my breakfast out the dumpster than be in humidity. Needless to say they have both indoor and outdoor seating. I ended up ordering the Frankie's special which was the perfect balance of protein, carbs and fats. Their sausage was REAL sausage meaning it wasn't the small little sausage links that remind you of your ex. I'm unsure if it was pork chicken or turkey but it was pretty savory and flavorful and gave a nice balance for the eggs and French toast. The egg wash/dip for the French toast was the best bath for the bread. I didn't even need to use syrup, the powdered sugar was plenty sweetness for me. I ended up sharing the Mia's stuffed French toast with strawberry cream cheese with my additionals. I really enjoyed the corn flake crispy crust on it was nice to have the texture of a crunch with the softness of the bread. Service was average or subpar to average. Our waitress wasn't the friendliest and had the whole "I don't want to be here it's 9am Sunday" attitude was there it was off putting but it didn't ruin our breakfast. Overall I'd come back when I want to have the home feeling diner. Parking is street parking otherwise there's a parking structure conveniently across the cafe. read more
1 year ago
Came here for breakfast the other day, and must say the few times I've been here, it's always been good. Nice portions. Good service. This past visit not so much. Food was great, been better before. But I ordered an iced tea, and the server returned to let me know they forgot to brew it. So I got a club soda instead. But never got a refill. Sat at the counter. It was slow. But the servers were too busy chatting or doing roll ups. read more
2 years ago
Pay attention to the little things and the big things won't go wrong. This was the lesson I was taught over and over while learning the restaurant business. So, they have a podium which says, please wait to be seated. And then no one is there to seat you. So, just to see how long it would take I started a stop watch. 4:35 later, one of the servers tells me someone will be with me shortly. What are your standards for greeting your customers? Is 4 minutes and 35 seconds appropriate when there is literally not a single customer in sight? Then, I wanted to sit at the counter. Which is fine, except literally half the counter was turned into a silverware rolling station. And... I want given silverware until I asked for it after the food arrived. Little things. Now, I ordered the Waffle Wednesday special. 2 eggs, choice of 2 meat, a waffle and 2 eggs any style. I thought I asked for hash browns to go with it. It was missed. Little things. The eggs and sausage were brought out right away, since the potatoes were missed, I waited for those as well as the waffle. The orange juice came with no straw. Little things. The staff is friendly. They were simply unfocused. Teach me to show up 15 minutes before closing. The total bill with tip ended up being just over $30! Yikes! The food was very good, but, $30 for breakfast?!? read more
5 months ago
Tina (just remember like Tina Turner) is an amazing waitress. She was so attentive, kind, and funny. Really pleasant personality. I wish every serve was like her. The food here is classic diner style and the menu selection is massive. 10/10 recommend read more
3 months ago
1 year ago
I wanted to like this place , since seeing a cute review on Social Media, but I was disappointed. We went on a Wednesday morning around 11 am. Not busy at all maybe 5 tables inside and outside dining. Male & Female servers. Took awhile to get our order placed, once we ordered the food came quickly, nice and hot and that was it. She never came to refill our coffee or check up on us. Finally we asked for a glass of water and she brought it to us after about 5 mins. The food was average breakfast diner food. I got a chicken fried steak the gravy seemed watered down and needed salt 5/10. Hubby ordered Grand Prix he gave a 6/10. I probably wouldn't return. Parking can be challenging on the street metered parking. Restaurant was clean and well decorated. read more
We were staying in downtown Long Beach and were looking for a place to eat breakfast. We were on a limited timeline so we were hoping to find a restaurant close to the hotel that had vegetarian/vegan options and pretty quick service and The Potholder Cafe definitely delivered. It was not super busy when we went on a Monday around 10:30am, and we were seated quickly. It has a diner vibe with a beach theme. Lots of tables and booths to choose from. They had a great sized menu with lots of diverse options. We were very happy to have a lot of vegetarian and vegan options to choose from. We were able to order quickly and I was very surprised how fast the food came out. I opted to go with the veggie benny which was good but I was a little surprised that there was a slice of american cheese between the english muffin and the veggies/egg. Not sure if that's a regional thing or just specific to this restaurant, but everything was very tasty and the staff was attentive. I would definitely recommend eating here and I would come back if I was in the area. read more
Long Beach is one of my absolute favorite cities to visit, so finally decided to try this place out for the first time after hearing how good it was. Food was delicious, service wasn't too bad and the inside is pretty cute and cozy. Aside from the noise level being a bit much, it was a pleasant experience overall. I'll be going back for sure. 5/5 read more
7 months ago
4 months ago
4 months ago
9 months ago
I loved this restaurant, I picked it because of the name, with a name like Potholder it seemed like a great place. The ambiance was cute, cozy and comfortable. The service was great as the waitresses were very attentive and nice. Food was fantabulous, the menu had so many options that other restaurants don't have, I mean for a breakfast menu. Check this restaurant out, you won't be disappointed. Oh yea, I forgot to add- after being on a cruise for the past week the coffee & French vanilla creamer were outta this world. Enjoy!!! read more
Service: friendly and very attentive. We never had to wait for long before someone came over to check on us. Very walkable location and gets busy during lunch time. We arrived before 11am and there were plenty of seats. Wow Factor: They have an 18" pancake!! Ordered: the Grand Prix. It came with their hashbrowns and toast. It was delicious but their hasbrowns were not my favorite as they were crispy or thin enough. I was hoping for the Denny's style. Otherwise, very delicious and would come back again! read more
8 months ago
3 months ago
4 months ago
Me and the Mrs. came here for a nice breakfast while visiting California I saw on their yelp. They had a giant pancake and I decided I had to try it. The restaurant was easy to find we parked on the street but later found out that there was a parking lot adjacent to the restaurant. The weight staff was very friendly. We decided to sit inside, even though it was sunny out and sitting outside would've been nice we just wanted to be inside away from the landscapers that were working just down the block. I ordered the Mac daddy Frankie, which is a giant 18 inch pancake eggs and your choice of bacon or sausage links, I opted for the sausage links. The food came to the table relatively quickly, and when it arrived, I was pleasantly surprised. The pancake was gigantic golden with four dollop of butter on top. My first thought was the pancake was not going to taste good, but upon my first bite I was absolutely stunned. It was tasty moist and fluffy. I tried my very best to eat as much as the pancake as I could, but I was only able to finish half of it so I cut the rest into wedges and took it to go and I picked at it throughout the day. The food here was delicious and both presentation and smell. I can see the waiters walking around with other people's orders and everything looked amazing. If I do come back here, I would try something else on the menu as the pancake was just too big. It definitely would be a good choice for a group of people to order that pancake and just split it up amongst themselves, but it was something cool to try and it was definitely very tasty. read more
Potholder is iconic for a reason! I did a quick pick-up order and was helped by Gloria, she is such a bright and welcoming energy. The atmosphere makes you feel like you're truly in a classic diner. The bean & cheese burrito was incredible and perfectly wrapped in the best tortilla ever. Solid price-to-portion ratio. Love it!! read more
5 months ago
5 months ago
Always love it here. Neighborhood joint that's gives you the mom and pop vibe. Love the outdoor area for people watching. The food portions are insane and quality is alway great. The staff is kind and friendly. Great service and anyone I'm on the neighborhood I try and eat here. It reminds me of the 90s In all the good ways! Classic and stable which I think we can all appreciate nowadays. Support this locally eatery I will always! read more
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More info about The Potholder Cafe
301 W Broadway
Long Beach, CA 90802
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(562) 432-6824
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https://www.thepotholdercafe.com
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Ask the Community - The Potholder Cafe
Do you take reservations? Looking for a table Christmas morning?
We do not take reservations. We are closed on Christmas. So sorry.
Do you allow pets? We like to take our two well mannered dogs with us to outdoor restaurants.
We love pets. Our outdoor patio is very accommodating!! Hope we see you soon.
Do you have unlimited mimosa for Sunday as well?
Although we serve mimosas everyday we currently only serve bottomless mimosas on Saturdays.
Can you order lunch items at breakfast time?
Yes full menu at all time Hope to see you soon
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